"The conditions were perfect, the greens were soft, the fairways were soft. It was ideal scoring conditions," he said.

McIlroy, who started his round on the 10th, dropped his only shot at the par five 13th when he drove into a bush, but he finished his round in style with a 15-foot birdie putt at the 9th, his last hole.

"It was actually nice to be out late because I wanted to do a little work on my putting before I went out. I was able to do that and holed a few nice ones," he added.

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